


A Promise in Petals

by rainsonata



Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28817223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsonata/pseuds/rainsonata
Summary: Picking flowers is a pastime Mad Paradox keeps close to his heart for personal reasons he doesn’t enjoy sharing. That doesn’t stop Metamorphy from trying to help. Platonic Aisha and Add interaction.
Kudos: 1





	A Promise in Petals

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr. Fanfic + cover art collab for a contest with Elsword Fanart Discord. Cover art is done by [killswatch](https://killswatch.tumblr.com/). Thank you for letting me work with you!

Lush greenery overtook the path they walked on, a hint of blue in the leaves from the El’s presence growing stronger the closer they were to the center of the forest. Between the rolling hills and rough ledges covered in moss were roots rising from the ground, some reaching to the height of a one-story building. With the El restored, the travelers were left undisturbed by its occupants as they passed by. 

“Did you really forget our promise?” Aisha asked. 

Add shrugged, “Which one? Making me wear a dress and do dumb poses with you?”

“No!” She puffed her cheeks out, “I mean the one about today!”

Add didn’t have to look past his shoulder to see the purple haired mage pouting. He could hear the disappointment in her voice. The time traveler almost envied Aisha for her honesty. Or at least being comfortable to express her opinions, which she was more than happy to provide even if it got them into trouble. 

_A promise,_ he snorted.

What a childish thing to believe in, and yet he held onto them. Promising to try pastries, exploring time and space, and helping Aisha out with new spells. It became a game to how many wishes they could turn into reality. Some of those dreams were as mundane as shopping for tools or food in exchange for buying COBO’s chocolate for himself. Perhaps it was Aisha’s attempt of making him stay.

“Maybe if you told me where we were going, we would be there by now.” Add scowled, folding his arms in and glaring at the mage.

If Aisha was planning on keeping him waiting for answers, there was no point in sticking around. With a sigh, the time traveler tilts his head to the side and held his hand out. Electricity cackled as Add clawed through the fabric of time and space to rip apart a portal for show. The portal had sharp edges like glass and shone in purple lighting. Add’s toe was on the line between reality and space, crawling through the opening when someone tugged on his hoodie and dragged him out. 

“Nuh-uh,” Aisha shook her head. “We’re walking there by foot. You didn’t let me explain.” 

“Right,” Add wasn’t impressed by her habit of throwing flare to everything she said or did. “And you won’t tell me where this place is because…?”

“Don’t you know?” She winked, “Getting there is part of the fun~! No portals!”

The woman who called herself Metamorphy twirled around to pose. In purple frills and all, it was a wonder how Aisha found a way to get more lace and bows in her clothes than last outfit. 

“I’m surprised you chose Ruben,” Add said. “When did you become one for nostalgia?”

Add couldn’t help but allow himself to be smug. Did Aisha think she could keep him in the dark and not see the giant Tree of El’s everlasting presence everywhere they went? And of course, they had to go through Elder to get to Ruben at all when they were coming from the opposite side of the continent. 

“I saw your room.” Aisha’s expression softened, her voice growing quiet. “They’re not for your alchemy, were they?”

He could hear his heart racing as he searched his memories to what the mage was talking about. If that damn priest broke their deal and told Aisha that he wasn’t from the present, that man was going to fear more than his so-called goddess.

Aisha took him by the hand to pull the time traveler closer. Her touch snapped Add out of his train of thought and gave her a wide-eyed look. Placing her gloved hand over his, she nudged his fingers to curl inward and prompted him to look.

In his palm were dried flowers pressed flat. Their white petals were faded like parchment paper, but they maintained their shape. White carnations. They were outside his lab in Velder that Vanessa gave him in exchange for his aid in the demon invasion. 

“You left these behind,” Aisha said. “They looked crumbled, but they must be important to you if you kept them.”

Beneath a grove of Elder trees minuscule to the Tree of El was a fallen tree. Older than the rest, its wooden shell appeared weakened when Aisha led him through. It was big enough for a person to walk through without having to lower themselves, for him at least. Aisha ducked her head with her staff tied to her back to avoid hitting her head.

Sunlight greeted them on the other side. Morning dew fell off the petals of the wildflowers Add walked through in awe at the vibrant colors. Sprinkled in floral bedding, some of them were as small as his pinky nail with a fresh scent of rain. He recognized many of them from childhood memories and from his travels, but there were species he didn’t remember the last time he was in the Ruben-Elder area.

“You wanted to bring me here?” Add asked. He hated how young and naive his question sounded, especially when he wasn’t in his true form, but Aisha didn’t laugh.

“I’ve been wanting to show you this place. There must be hundreds you won’t see in Velder.” With a sly expression, her eyes gleamed, “Didn’t think a grump like you would be a softie for flowers.”

Turning to Aisha, he found himself tongue tied to how to thank her. Being honest to himself wasn’t something he was familiar or comfortable with. It pained him to admit it even to himself in private thought. Maybe that was why he no longer minded Aisha pestering him and accepted her attempt in their friendship. What would he know about friendship when El Gang were his first?

“It won’t take long,” Add walked past her.

Aisha sighed, “I suppose that’s the closest I’ll get to a thank you, huh?”

The time traveler snickered when he overheard Aisha to his response. He spotted a flower with petals folded down and outward like a noble’s gown. A blue iris. It was a little late for them to be in bloom, but it must have been the El’s influence keeping it alive. Closing his eyes, Add thought about the flowers he once helped grow with Mother. With the ongoing wars and briefness of life, was the future any different than 300 years ago?

* * *

_300 Years_

_Mother’s greenhouse was home to the plants she experimented on and cultivated for her research, but it was more than that. It was a place he could take refuge when the mansion became too much for him. It was like the secret hideouts Edward once read in books, but there were no dragons or adventures waiting for him._

_His favorite spot was the base of a tall willow tree, where the flowers cluttered until he had to stay on his tiptoes to see where he was. It smelled of fresh fertilizer and a scent that reminded him of the floral perfume Mother liked. Dirt got into his nails, he kept his head low and let the plants overshadow him._

_Edward gazed at flowers before him with the awe and curiosity mostly reserved for children his age, rubbing his fingers on the silky red petals. He hugged a bustle of flowers in his free arm, far too many to carry without the risk of losing a few petals. The child almost tripped over a root when he snipped a couple of stems with a pair of scissors._

_They puffed upward like tissue paper pinched together from the buds. Mother grew the carnations in bunches among the daisies and clovers, sometimes letting the colors mix to create a rainbow of flowers. There were white carnations, but he liked the pink and red ones more because they were colorful and popped against the sea of green._

_“Edward?” A woman’s voice called for him in panic. “Where are you?”_

_Her voice was quiet enough to force Edward to lean his ear to hear the rest of her sentence, but he could tell she was close by. His knees were green from kneeling on the grass for what felt like hours. Edward was dusting the grass stains off his clothes when someone grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the flowers._

_“M-mother!” Edward stuttered. Shuffling his feet with new interest in his shoes, he was careful not to crush the flowers in his arms and pressed the bouquet close to his chest. They still smelled of morning dew when he carefully rearranged them to keep the petals puffed out. “I didn’t see you.”_

_White locks fell over her pale face, a gentle nature framed by sadness in her eyes that never went away. She smelled of roses as she leaned down to meet at his eye level. With her hand on his shoulder, Edward’s stomach twisted in guilt and struggled to make eye contact._

_“I came here when you didn’t come for lunch,” she said. “Are those our flowers?”  
_

_“I picked them the way you showed me,” Edward protested. “You said you liked the pink ones, I wanted to make it a surprise!”_

_She examined the flowers with admiration. “I think they look wonderful.”_

_“You’re not mad at me?”_

_Mother took the bouquet in her arms, a dozen of carnations bleeding red into her flower print dress. Tucking in a strand of hair behind her ear, her tender smile graced her soft features._

_“Of course not!” She patted Edward’s hair, “Although we might need more than one vase for them.”_

_“I… wanted to have a bookmark like yours,” he admitted. “The one with the red flowers.”_

_Edward’s vision clouded as his cheeks grew warm. He could feel the blood traveling up his neck and reaching the end of his ears at her words. Was that too much? He wasn’t sure how many flowers Mother needed for flower pressing._

_They were framed into pictures, turned into bookmarks, and even for decorating tableware! It was something Edward looked forward to when Mother was free and they had extra flowers to spare from her research. Sometimes, Mother would let him keep the extras and tape them on his bedroom wall._

_Mother smiled, “I’m sure we can do that after you finish your lessons with your father. He was asking about your studies this morning.”_

_“Okay…”_

_Edward squirmed at the mention of Father. Much to his surprise - and dread, Father has been coming home more often to tutor him in person. It wasn’t that he hated him, but rather, Edward feared that whatever efforts he put into his work was never enough to meet Father’s standards. After the last lesson that ended in burnt rubber and circuits, Edward was unsure if he wanted to face him today. Surely, Father would force him to sit down to discuss about his… recent failure._

_But still, he made a promise to Mother. It wouldn’t be fair to run off when he was expected to be present and be the best son he could be. While Mother was talking to their butler on arranging lunch for them, Edward had his hands in his pockets when he felt something._

_Crumbled and squished in his pockets, the petals were clinging to the stem as he spread them out. They had long flat white petals branching from the yellow center. Edward was proud when he stuck a few daisies he had into the bouquet sitting on the dining table and how well they contrasted with the more vibrant carnations._

_“Edward?”_

_“Mother, can I help you press the flowers?” Edward begged, “I promise I’ll be helpful!”_

_“How about we’ll make them together?” Mother said, “These flowers need time to dry before we make them.”_

_Edward nodded with excitement. He thought it was fun helping her pick the prettiest flowers and slipping them between thin pieces of paper. Even though Father disapproved, Mother encouraged him to find the heaviest books from their library to use as weight to hammer them down. Those were rare moments of peace he wished would last for eternity._

* * *

Add was asleep under the shade with half his face buried in a bed of flowers. His ever-present scowl was absent as he mumbled in his sleep and rolled over. The time traveler looked young because of… whatever he did, but even more so with his eyes closed. One could even say he was vulnerable with a stray smile caught between his lips.

He had flowers in his hair, their petals fanning out in different directions like the time traveler’s hair locks. There were more in his arms and on the grass because he lost his grip on them. They weren’t uniform in color, where the base bled in various shades of blues and violets with paler tips. He fell asleep in a patch of clovers cushioning the rest of his tiny body. 

Aisha had her doubts when he first joined their little ragtag team of people she would come into terms as a second family. So what if he saved one of their team members and the boys thought it was cool? In those two years she spent observing Add, it was surprising to see the time traveler still there when he had the chance to run. He was more than an extra hand in battle and even offered useful suggestions when confronted by nasods in Elysion.

Add’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of her footsteps and sat up in alarm at the sudden movement. The Mad Paradox let out an extended yawn and stretched his arms. Wiping his eyes, he closed his legs to lean forward and get up. 

Tilting his head to the side to crack his neck, he sighed, “Did I keep you waiting?” 

She lowered herself until she was kneeling on the floor and swooped up a bundle of flowers to offer to Add. Picking flowers in the forest was something out of the fairytales she read as a child with her grandfather. It was hard to restrain her giddiness over experiencing a picture-perfect scenario. 

“Sun won’t set for another few hours.“ Noting that most of the flowers Add had were dark colors, Aisha remarked, “What a gloomy looking bunch you have there.”

“You’re only saying that because none of them are pink,” Add quipped back. 

“You gotta add more colors to make them happy,” Aisha spread her arms out. “And pink is a great color, thank you very much! How about something lighter like orange or yellow?” 

“You don’t need to add pastel colors to everything to make them ‘happy’,” he said with twitched brows. Add mumbled, “Why did you bring me here?”

The blue and purple iris Add had in his arms spread out like shining stars if one curled up the tips. Thin yellow lines ran through the center of their ruffled petals with the center of the flowers puffed upward. Tiny white flowers and forget-me-nots added volume to the bouquet and brought out the colors. Aisha frowned when she saw the additional white carnations.

“Because I made a promise,” Aisha said softly. “Maybe you don’t remember, but I said I would take you here someday. You always seemed the happiest when you looked at those flowers.”

Add knitted his brows at her explanation, but accepted it with a curt nod. It was sometimes difficult to know what went through his mind as the time traveler kept many things to himself. He tugged at the carnation’s edges while rearranging them around the longer stems.

“Another promise, huh?” Shark like teeth poked through his lips as Add chuckled, “You’re making it hard to keep up with all of them.”

“I know I’m asking a lot, but can you teach me how to flower press?” Aisha pressed her lips together.

“As if you need another way to blind me,” the man child cackled.

“Hey!” Aisha protected.

She wrestled the bouquet out of his hands and beyond his reach. Like a mature adult, Aisha stuck out her tongue in childish glee, but shrieked when a pair of hands poked out of a portal placed above her head. Add grinned as he retrieved the stolen flowers, pulling back to relish at her shocked reaction. 

“You’re 90% glitter,” Add stuck out his tongue back.

Brat. 

“Where do you think those glitter monsters’ remains go?” The mage dropped her smile when Add didn’t laugh. “You could at least pretend my joke was funny.”

“I won’t,” he snorted. “Because it’s stupid.”

“Did Glave take your sense of humor too?” Aisha crossed her arms.

She once assumed his fascination with flowers stemmed from Ciel, who would offer freshly baked cookies in exchange for herbs to use in cooking and medicine. Or maybe it was because Add was an alchemist who needed to be well versed in plant lore to create potions and elixirs. He used to carry those test tube bottles to battle when he was a tracer.

Those theories met their dismissal when Aisha befriended him and cast her judgement aside. Add didn’t talk about his upbringing, but he once spoke about his mother before dropping the subject. Was it his mother who taught him to love flowers? It was hard to say, but maybe it didn’t matter when the only time Add spoke of her was in his sleep. Perhaps some things were best left behind in the past if it he mentioned her in the past tense.

“We’ll need to put them in vases for a few hours when we get back,” Add gestured to the flowers. “Let them soak overnight if you want to do flower pressing tomorrow. I’ll show you the rest of the steps.”

That soon? That decision was made quicker than she anticipated. Aisha was thrilled and threw her arms around her shorter teammate. She let go when Add stiffened at the sudden physical contact and had that Phoru in the headlight look. 

“Let me grab something before we go,” Aisha said.

Close to where they entered the secret garden was a cluster of tulips standing strong on tall stems; she ran over to pick a few she thought were in full bloom. They had round petals cupped together like a pair of pale glossed lips, pink as the sunsets over Hamel in late spring. Not extravagant as a rose, but their simplicity was something she thought was suiting for a woman of her age. 

“I think they’ll go well with what we have,” Aisha beamed. She tucked them behind the white and pink freesias. 

Rolling his eyes, Add chuckled. “Of course you choose those.”

For all the complaining Add did, he dropped the act when offered kindness, sometimes speechless as if he wasn’t sure how to react to positive emotions. Seeing his face light up at the flowers almost made it believable that he was a child. It wasn’t the maniacal grin often reserved for battles in his true form, but a sincere one that left Aisha in high spirits. With freshly picked flowers at hand, Aisha helped him carry them back when they left the forest to return to civilization.

**Author's Note:**

> White carnations - pure love and good luck, used to honor deceased mothers
> 
> Iris - wisdom, hope, trust, and valor
> 
> Red and pink carnations - love and admiration, used to honor living mothers
> 
> Daisies - innocence
> 
> Forget-me-not - remembrance
> 
> Freesias - multicolored bouquets mean friendship and thoughtfulness
> 
> Pink tulips - caring and attachment


End file.
